soprry, been a while. well this past weekend I inally worked out my starter issues and got a 6449 OEM type starter made for a 95 GMC Yukon... it's a gear reduction small starter, but not the race type "mini" starters... that's the kind I had that was giving me so much trouble not engaging the flexplate.

so Saturday late afternoon I picked up the starter and headed back down to Dad's. got my stuff unpacked for the long weekend and headed out to the garage - figured I'd at least get the starter bolted in and just try to crank to make sure it was engaging properly.. well got it bolted in about 15 min, and cranked it over... no crazy grinding or scraping sound, and it sounded like it actually wanted to kick over. So I shot a quick blast of starting fluid at the carb, floored the pedal and cranked. after about 5 sec of cranking it fired up. a little playing with the gas pedal and I was able to get it to idle without sounding like it wanted to die I stopped there as I did a bunch of stuff at home before coming down, and I figured I hit a good milestone I'll stop and start early in the morning with the final tuning and wrapping it up.

so the next morning I got out to the garage and grabbed the timing light, disconnected the vac advance and set timing to 12 to start. then I plugged in the vac gauge and set the mix screws on the carb, then I adjusted the idle and then double-checked the mix - then finally gave a fine adjustment to the timing using the vac gauge, then checked what it was... torned out I was pretty close on my initial set... setting timing with the vac gauge got me to just about 14-15 deg. I may bump it another degree or 2 in the next couple weeks after I see how it does at the current setting.

with all the test running over the last 2 months I haven't paid attention to the gas gauge... decided to take it for a drive into town to get gas (dad lives in a fairly rural area) got about 2 miles down the road and it started sputtering then died... yep, I'm a ******* LOL
walked back to dad's and grabbed his gas can (only about 1 1/2-2 gal in it) and he gave me a ride back to the jeep. poured in the gas turned the key on a few secs to let the pump run, then turned over again... turned a little slow but did fire up. made it to the gas station just fine and filled the tank.

drives very nice. very smooth and responsive, and the exhaust has a real nice tone without (IMHO) being obnoxiously loud. I'm guessing it's because of the heavier engine, trans and rear, but I swear the ride itself is smoother and less jarring.

so I get back to dad's and clean up all my garbage and pack up all my tools and other parts so he can have his garage back. we had dinner, packed up my clothes and stuff and hit the road to finally bring it home!! Started a little sluggish but it DID start and idled just a smooth as when I first tuned it.

about half-way home I'm loving the ride, but then approaching a traffic light, took my foot off the gas letting it coast a bit, then all my gauges drop to zero and the engine dies. tried to restart it and not even a click... so I call my wife to come out for a jump start. 20 min later she pulls up and I pop the hoods and hook up the cables. try to start again and NOW I get a click but that's it... so the battery is dead, I suspect I might need a new alternator.

now I'm stuck at the half-way point so I call AAA for a tow home. luckily the weather cleared up so it wasn't too bad hanging out off the shoulder.

where I'm at now - YJ is now in MY driveway with a charger on the battery and after work today I removed the alternator.... taking it to Advance tomorrow for them to test it. the alt and the power steering pump are the same ones that were on the donor vehicle, so it's my fault for not changing it earlier, but alts are quick and easy to replace so I figured I'd wait to see if I NEEDED to - same with the PS pump, but THAT seems to be doing fine with no leaks and steers just as easy as I ever remember.

so tomorrow it's off to Advance to return the old starter for my core charge and have them test my old alt and probably get a new one.
Also getting a can of B-12 Chemtool to clean the top end a bit

well after some wiring issues (and running A LOT MORE GROUNDS) I finally got the thing to fire up reliably. no more having to spray a quick shot of ether in the carb, no more pumping or playing with the pedal.... this thing starts faster than any car I've ever owned

but I DO plan on upgrading the wires for power & ground to 1/0 welding cable for increased reliability, durability and to get rid of some of the new 4 & 8 gauge rats nest I've recently created.

this evening I hope to get the shifter cable re-adjusted - I don't think it was tightened fully and came out of adjustment during my attempt to drive it home last week... it would only shift from R-N, wouldn't go into park or any forward gears.... I had to disconnect the cable and get underneath to put the trans in park.

finally wired my elec fan through a dash switch - before it was wired to just come on low whenever the key was on, no off or high - finally got that straightened out.

also corrected the wiring on my new alternator harness... it's a 140 amp CS-144 made for a 95 Chevy Caprice police/taxi option. my headlights are even BRIGHTER now

if I can get my new phone figured out (or steal the kids Ipod for a moment) I'll take a video of it starting and running later in the week.

a little over a week ago I was out driving when I heard this HORRIBLE sound and vibration coming from somewhere in the front
if I came up to a stop sign or red light it started shaking violently like it wanted to die (it DID want to die) so in an effort to get home I'd coast to stops in neutral playing with the gas just to keep it running, then slamming it back into drive, chirping the tires at each takeoff.
eventually the sound and vibrations got worse and playing with the gas wasn't enough to keep it running... and it DIED

I was about 1/2 mile from home and didn't feel like (and couldn't afford) another tow, but luckily it was mostly flat from there to home so I proceeded the arduous task of pushing. about 10 min of pushing, a truck pulls up behind and beeps. It's one of the other dad's in my son's scout pack. he just happened to have an unmounted tire in the bed of his truck, so we ratched strapped that to his front bumper and he pushed me the rest of the way home.

The next morning I dug into it a little... the motor is SIEZED. I removed all the plugs and sprayed PB Blaster down each hole and left the plugs out... tried to start with key - nothing. Then I took the damper off the front and put a 3' pipe wrench on the crank snout.... couldn't budge the crank worth a damn

so I figured it would be laid up a few months while I bit the bullet and scraped funds together to just get myself a crate motor... fresh build with some sort of warranty.... well that's still the plan for down the road, but last weekend my dad called and said "don't buy an engine just yet"

his neighbor became interested in my build and would stop by on his way home to check my progress. last week he asked my dad how my Jeep was running. dad told him my ordeals and that I'm just planning on buying a new motor. He then offered up a 350 he's got on a stand that "runs like a top"... not a performance build, just a solid reliable stock motor. he offered to GIVE it to me that he currently doesn't have a use for it but couldn't see junking a perfectly good motor.

So that's the plan for now... pulling the old 350 for junk, and installing the free motor. at the very least, it'll get me by with a running vehicle while I save up for a nice crate motor down the road

alright... spent the morning stripping the old motor of all the accessories to be transferred over - intake/carb/dizzy, alternator, starter, water pump, power steering.
and now I have boxes of parts:

then got to work disconnecting all wires, hoses, etc. pulled the radiator but left the fenders/grille in place. with JUST the motor coming out, the hoist lifts plenty high enough. What a bear getting that thing to turn so I could get to the torque converter bolts... had a 3' pipe wrench on the crank snout AND a 6' piece of pipe for a cheater... and even with all that it took all I could to turn 1/3 revolution for each bolt. after all was finally disconnected, pulled the siezed 350:

now the engine bay is empty (again):

Dad's neighbor is bringing his 350 over tomorrow morning, so I'll get started stripping that and installing all my new accessories.

I didn't bother taking pics of the replacement 350 install, as they would basically be repeats of the original install a few months ago.
Got it in with a little help from dad up top operating the hoist and wiggling the motor as I handled it from underneath getting it lined up with the trans and seated in place. Then started installing all the parts. Got the motor set and all the front accessories mounted yesterday after a late start.

went out early this morning and went to work reconnecting the exhaust, fuel lines and the wiring. Don't know if I needed to, but once it was ready, I gave a quick shot of starting fluid into the carb and turned the key... roared to life immediately and had a very smooth idle. Sounds and feels much tighter than the dead 350 I took out....which reminds me...

I was curious so I pulled the pan from the old motor... the oil pump and pump driveshaft were laying in the bottom of the pan. Also looks like the thrust bearings on the front few journals had spit out. well if anyone needs a boat mooring anchor, you're welcome to come get it LOL